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After a lot of thought, I've decided to take a break from blogging for the foreseeable future. With my little C creeping its way back into my life and possible long term treatment now, I need to take a couple of things off my plate for the time being, and the blog is going to be one of those things. As it is, it felt like it was becoming more of a chore than anything else. I need my reading time to be more enjoyable right now, more of the escape that I really need, and what I don't need is the little voice in the back of my head telling me how many reviews I'm behind and trying to come up with what I need to say about the book.

I simply want to read.

I'll more than likely occasionally post on here what I've been reading, and if there is something that really blows my mind, I'll probably have more to say about it and may write up a proper post, but for right now, things are going to be very quiet around here.

As always, happy reading!

2017 edit

I will continue to blog according to my health and ability, and connecting my posts thru Goodreads, so please be patient if things get quiet around here again this year.

2017 edit #2

I am happy to report that my bone marrow transplant was a success and that I'm feeling more like myself everyday. That said, I'm going to try to start blogging a little more frequently, but please bare with me as I still continue to recover.

Dan Mishkin & Jerzy Drozd stopped by Schuler Books this evening to promote the release of their new book, The Warren Commission Report: A Graphic Investigation into the Kennedy Assassination. I thoroughly enjoyed this discussion. These guys clearly did their research when preparing the book. They discussed their storytelling process, how they were able to show multiple points of view from different parties and their various and differing recollections of the assassination. They are also able to tell the story in past tense, present-past tense, and present tense, and while it sounds confusing as hell, it actually works seamlessly. I found the entire talk fascinating. I would definitely like to see more collaborations of this sort between these guys.

Monday, September 29, 2014

Peter S. Beagle is currently on tour promoting a newly remastered edition of the animated classic based on his noel, The Last Unicorn. Same friends and I were lucky enough to be able to get tickets to his stop in Chicago at the Music Box Theater. Peter was generous enough to sign every single book that we brought to the signing, and took time out to talk to every single person in line. He even recited Dr. Seuss' "Too Many Daves" while he was signing my books! It was a magical evening. He's scheduled to be in Michigan in 2016, and you can believe I'll be there again to see him!

We all have our off days. Why should Evolution be any different? Maybe Evolution got carried away with an idea that was just a little too crazy—like having the Regal Horned Lizard defend itself by shooting three-foot streams of blood from its eyes. Or maybe Evolution ran out of steam (Memo to Evolution: The Irrawaddy Dolphin looks like a prototype that should have been left on the drawing board). Or maybe Evolution was feeling cheeky—a fish with hands? Joke’s on you, Red Handfish! Or maybe Evolution simply goofed up: How else to explain the overgrown teeth of the babirusas that curl backward over their face? Oops.

Mara Grunbaum is a very smart, very funny science writer who celebrates the best—or, really, the worst—of Evolution’s blunders. Here are more than 100 outlandish mammals, reptiles, insects, fish, birds, and other creatures whose very existence leaves us shaking our heads and muttering WTF?! Ms. Grunbaum’s especially brilliant stroke is to personify Evolution as a well-meaning but somewhat oblivious experimenter whose conversations with a skeptical narrator are hilarious.

For almost 4 billion years, Evolution has produced a nonstop parade of inflatable noses, bizarre genitalia, and seriously awkward necks. What a comedian!

This is a clever and funny collection of photographs of some of Nature's more obscure and bizarre creatures of all shapes and sizes, presented as a collection of photographs with accompanying dialogue between an unnamed narrator and Evolution. Evolution, often excited and anxious to show off it's newest creations, is often questioned, much to the reader's delight, by the narrator who is trying to figure out what exactly Evolution had in mind. Separated into chapters such as "Awkward Solutions" and "Half-Assed Attempts", we are presented with a wide array of creatures that does make one wonder what exactly was going on in the evolutionary process.

One of the reasons I enjoyed this book as much as I did is that I was introduced to a variety of animals that I had never heard of before, and while they are presented in a comedic fashion, I found myself researching a little more about them, beyond the humorous information presented in the book. One such creature is the whitemargin stargazer, a fish found in the Indopacific oceans, which I think looks like something that actually belongs Beyond the Wall.

Mara Grunbaum has done a great job of presenting some of nature's more unique specimens, disguising some very interesting information about them is a humorous format that is both comical and informative. Check out her tumblr at wtfevolution.tumblr.com for even more of Evolution's craziness.

WTF, Evolution?!: A Theory of Unintelligible Design by Mara Grunbaum will be available on October 7, 2014, from Workman Publishing Company.

Tuesday, September 23, 2014

Paige Rawl stopped by Schuler Books earlier this evening to promote the release of her new book, Positive: A Memoir. I was so impressed by this young girl's courage and all that she has overcome in her life living with HIV.

Wednesday, September 10, 2014

Title: A Game of ThronesSeries: A Song of Ice and Fire, Book 1Author: George R. R. MartinNarrator: Roy DotriceCopyright: 1996Pages: 831ISBN: 9780553573404Publisher: BantamAvailable: January 1, 1996Rating: 5/5 stars

Not much more I can add to the discussion on this book. I'm surprised by how much I enjoyed listening to it, and am looking forward to listening to the rest in the series.

From what I remember watching the first season of the HBO series, they followed along with the book fairly faithfully. Nothing jumped out as a radical change, so if you're wanting to get into the series through either the books or the show but don't want to commit to the books, I think watching the show will give you the same story in a slightly condensed version.